His Name Was Night
by Spinkichi
Summary: He was a lowly demon, weak and unworthy of a name. The pilot manga to Ao no Exorcist, The Miyama-Uguisu Mansion Incident.  Rated T for small amounts of blood.


Life for him was a sort of hell. Not the flaming inferno where vile and wicked people were supposedly sent to in the after life. His hell was more of a demon infested prison where he was tortured by his higher-ups everyday. That was to be expected, since he did live in the demon infested world of _Gehenna_. It didn't help that he was a young demon, weak and unworthy of a name. _Pazuzu_, he spat the name inside his head, treated him worse than garbage. He was sure of it. The nameless demon had had his wings torn off, had been left to starve and endured other punishments, urinated on and other horrible treatments.

He could understand that, being a demon, there was not supposed to be even an ounce of kindness in him, he could tell that he was different. There was never the sudden urge to torture weaker creatures or find an opening to possess the humans that lived in _Assiah_. The nameless demon was just different. It was because he was weak and unworthy of a name he supposed.

Then he met _her_. One day under the shade of a bush in some garden, she had come up to him full of smiles and childish innocence, asking if he was okay. But he hissed and scratched at her outstretched hand. _Don't be afraid _she had said. He wasn't afraid. It was her that should have been afraid. Humans didn't care about demons, what made this girl any different? The next time he swiped at her hand, it drew blood. The girl looked at him with an unfathomable expression on her face and ran off, but there was no guilt. Why would he care? It was his job to cause misfortune and pain.

To his silent dismay, the girl came running back, carrying a bottle in her hands.

_Let me show you what I like! _Her smile had gotten wider,if possible. She set down the glass bottle. It was filled with an assortment of different flowers and water, arranged quite expertly for a little girl. To the nameless demon, it was incredibly beautiful. Unlike the mocking face of Pazuzu whenever he tormented the nameless demon, or the horrors that Pazuzu often summoned to do his bidding, it was pleasant to look at. Maybe the girl wasn't that bad he supposed. Someone that innocent wasn't capable of tearing his tail off or stabbing out one of his eyes. He wasn't stupid, and was pretty sure that Pazuzu had that up his sleeve next. So he stayed with her.

She was the only one who had thought he could have a name. _Your fur is dark black, like the night sky, she told him that night, _and so, she named him 'Night'. She bandaged his wounds (his wings would never grow back he figured) and played with him. It was the first time he had ever been called by a name. The girl told Night about her dreams to inherit the art of flower arranging from her father, and to be as beautiful as her mother.

After hearing this, Night would take any opportunity he got to look at the girl's mother. To him, the girl was prettier, though he would never admit it to himself. He was still a lowly demon, and while he finally had a name, he wasn't worthy of friends. But it was still enough for now. Night's life changed. He would eat with the girl's family, sleep on her futon when he was tired and run through the garden and chase butterflies and leaves while she gathered flowers.

One day, on his little escapades in the garden, he stumbled across a small flower. It wasn't anything special, but he still liked it. He picked it with his teeth and brought it to the girl. The girl was delighted when she saw it and patted him on the head. She had called him nice. A demon who was nice, wasn't something that happened very often. The praise made him blush.

_I wish you were a human Night. We could talk so much more, _she had told him. Suddenly, Night wished he were a human too. He wanted to talk with her, and tell her little things. But he couldn't. Most demons, could speak, but he was a lower class demon, the kind exorcists wouldn't bother themselves with, the kind who were unworthy of names. If he were a human instead of a demon, he thought, maybe he could express how he felt.

_But his happiness didn't last. _Pazuzu had noticed the girl, his friend. It was very rare to come across such a kind hearted girl. Night knew. Pazuzu knew. Being the demon that he was, he thought it would be fun to torment and break her until she turned sixteen. This plan, he told to Night as they sat in a tree and watched her on the soft grass below. But he couldn't do anything. He could endure the torture and the pain, but if he tried to interfere, Pazuzu would just kill him. And Night couldn't let that happen. Not before he did something to help her. He couldn't let Pazuzu hurt her. Not her. She was too kind and nice to be tortured.

Unfortunately, Pazuzu carried out his plans. He got close to the girl and quite easily, took control of her Uncle's tainted heart. Night watched this happen. But he wasn't a human, and couldn't warn her. The only thing he could do was stay by her side. A demon as lowly and unworthy of a name would only be a bother if they tried anything else. He watched as Pazuzu killed her parents. He watched as he slowly twisted and tainted his beloved friends heart. He watched as he took away her freedom to roam the gardens and gather flowers. He watched as she cried every night because she was lonely. He watched as her dark hair began to turn slowly white from the roots down because of stress. He watched all of this, and his heart broke.

Never before had he been angry. He had only felt pain and suffering, but never anger. Then the girl had come and had shown him emotions like kindness, caring and _love_. He was a demon, he wasn't worthy of love. But now, there was only hatred. Hatred for Pazuzu. But most of all, there was hatred for himself. He hated himself for being weak.

That night, the girl held Night close and told him about how she had almost drowned in the river, and how her parents had died trying to save her. Night wanted to scream at her and tell her that _it was all because of Pazuzu_. But he was a demon, weak, and _unworthy of a name_. He listened as she continued, saying that it was her fault that her _mama_ and _papa _died. And she cried. The most heart-wrenching sobs of loneliness and despair he had ever heard. He would know. He was a demon, and had tagged along with Pazuzu enough on his killing sprees. In between her cries were the words _Night! Promise you'll never leave me..._

But he couldn't stay. He knew what Pazuzu was after. Virgin girls were the ripest to demons at sixteen, which means that the girl didn't even have ten years left. He had to do something. There was no more sitting and watching.

Night approached the girls Uncle, knowing full well who lay behind the false pretense of a human. Pazuzu was surrounded by his demons, and Night had never felt more scared in his life.

_We demons are horrible creatures! We're worthless beings! _he shouted at Pazuzu. But Pazuzu only laughed.

It didn't take more than a second for Pazuzu to strike, knocking Night clean off of his feet and onto the ground some distance away. He was bleeding and he knew he would probably die. Pazuzu and his group walked away laughing, leaving him there on the cold floor to die.

_Is this the end?_

Slowly, Night got to his feet. He staggered and fell over, pain rushing through his body.

_No... I won't let myself die yet!_

Blood was dripping from his mouth and making small pools on the floor. But he wasn't worried about himself. The only thought that ran through his head was the girl.

_Monaka will be killed...!_

Night had no choice but to become as feared as the other demons if he wanted to save the girl, Monaka. His friend. But he was weak. So he walked, leaving a steady trail of bloody footprints behind him.

He didn't remember how long it took him, but he eventually reached his goal. He stopped in front of a pair of exorcists (he could tell by the long coats they wore). As he expected, the two exorcists didn't even blink at his sudden appearance. A half dead lower demon hardly posed a threat to two well-trained and experienced exorcists.

He could hear them suggesting the idea of finishing him off, so he wasted no time in trying to bring across his point.

_...P-_

The exorcists stopped. "Wait, he's trying to speak." said one.

..._Please..._

The tears were pouring off of his face and soaking his fur.

_Teach me how to kill demons._


End file.
